The present application claims priority under 35 USC 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-009071 filed on Jan. 17, 2001 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-351403 filed on Nov. 16, 2001 the entire contents thereof are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for transmitting attribute information representing characteristics of a vehicle by radio, and a system for reporting by radio of an abnormality of the vehicle, such as a theft, a failure, or an accident, and particularly to a technique that makes it possible to identify and locate the vehicle and also grasp attributes of the vehicle such as the producer and the type of the vehicle by the report.
2. Description of Background Art
Conventionally, various inventions have been proposed to deal with the theft of a vehicle.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 61-30450 proposes a vehicle theft preventing system in which theft detecting means and transmitting means are provided for a vehicle. A display is carried by the owner of the vehicle who receives a theft detecting signal from the vehicle and displays the theft detecting signal on the display. The display transmits a signal to activate an alarm provided on the vehicle.
Japanese Patent No. 2665478 Publication proposes an anti-vehicle-theft system in which a theft detector and a position detector are provided on a vehicle. The position detector is activated in response to the theft detector detecting a theft and then automatically transmits position information.
Recently, navigation systems employing a positioning system (GPS: Global Positioning System) using satellites have been incorporated in a number of vehicles. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 5-5626 proposes an accident information reporting system utilizing position information that can be obtained by a vehicle using such a navigation system. Specifically, the navigation system is provided with means for detecting an accident to the vehicle and transmitting means. When the occurrence of an accident to the vehicle is detected, the navigation system automatically transmits accident information and information on where the accident has occurred to the police, the JAF or the like.
In addition, recent developments relating to radio communication systems have brought a positioning service using a PHS (Personal Handyphone System), which makes it possible to locate the PHS communication terminal by determining which base station apparatus has a radio communication service area where the terminal is located.
However, although the conventional inventions for dealing with theft and accidents may provide position information, the conventional inventions simply report a theft and an accident. Therefore, it is difficult to take action adequately in response to the report.
Specifically, in a case where a vehicle is stolen, it is not possible to search for the stolen vehicle if attributes of the vehicle itself, such as the name of the producer, the type, and the body color of the vehicle, are not known. Thus, the search is begun after identifying the attributes representing characteristics of the vehicle by interviewing the owner of the stolen vehicle, for example, and therefore it is not possible to take appropriate action promptly.
Even if the vehicle belongs to a particular vehicle type, attributes in terms of appearance, which enable identification of the particular vehicle at a glance, may be changed by replacing wheels, pasting a sticker on the body of the vehicle, attaching a TV antenna or the like, replacing seats or seat covers visible from outside the vehicle, and other work done by the user as required. Some measures are required to deal with such a change in the attributes by the user after purchase of the vehicle. Such conditions are especially noticeable in the case of motorcycles. A user often not only pastes a sticker on the body of the vehicle but also replaces parts that change the appearance of the motorcycle, such as a muffler, a fender, and an air cleaner box, as so-called customizing work after the purchase of the vehicle.
Furthermore, there is a service which takes and offers a photograph of the vehicle at a dealer or the like at the time of purchase of the vehicle. Such a photograph of the vehicle is also an attribute that enables identification of the particular vehicle at a glance. When the photographic image is used as an attribute, the attribute information needs to be associated with the change in the attributes as described above.
Furthermore, there are many users who have an attachment to their vehicles. Such users have a desire to use an image of the vehicle at the time of the change in the attributes as described above as part of an album.
Also in a case of an accident to a vehicle, it is not possible to take appropriate action promptly because, for example, the police are sent to the site of the accident, inspect the vehicle in the accident, and request a wrecker necessary for carrying the vehicle in the accident which wrecker is appropriate in size for the vehicle in the accident.
In addition, although in a case of a failure in the vehicle, it is convenient if a radio communication system as described above is used to automatically transmit a report of the failure and thereby request maintenance service, simply reporting the occurrence of the failure by such a failure report has the same problems as described above.
Specifically, in order to repair the failure promptly on the spot, it is necessary to prepare necessary replacement parts in advance. In some cases, the failure can be repaired only by maintenance service of the producer of the vehicle. Moreover, depending on the extent of the failure, a wrecker for carrying the vehicle to a repair shop is required. However, if going to the spot for repair after only the occurrence of the failure is reported, it is not possible to deal with the failure quickly and thus not possible to take appropriate action promptly.
The present invention has been made in view of the conventional situations described above, and it is accordingly an object of the present invention to make it possible to take appropriate action promptly in response to a report of an abnormality of a vehicle such as a theft, an accident, or a failure.
It is another object of the present invention to associate attribute information that can identify the vehicle with the vehicle at the present time and thereby optimize the attribute information.
Further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description. The present invention makes it possible to identify the vehicle and take appropriate action promptly, by performing a communication processing and information processing to provide identifying information for uniquely identifying the vehicle, attribute information indicating attributes of the vehicle itself, and position information indicating the current position of the vehicle. The present invention also makes it possible to optimize the attribute information useful in identifying the vehicle.
The present invention makes it possible to take appropriate action promptly in response to an occurrence of an abnormality of a vehicle such as a theft, an accident, or a failure, by performing communication processing and information processing by providing information on the abnormality detected from the vehicle, identifying information for uniquely identifying the vehicle, attribute information indicating attributes of the vehicle itself, and position information indicating the current position of the vehicle.
Abnormalities of the vehicle include thefts, accidents, and failures.
When dealing with a theft in the present invention, information capable of providing notification of the fact that the vehicle is stolen suffices as abnormality information. The abnormality information may include information on the time of the theft, which information is obtained by an internal clock in a terminal apparatus or abnormality detecting means, for example, to thereby provide information useful in a subsequent search.
When dealing with an accident in the present invention, information capable of providing notification of the fact that the accident has occurred suffices as abnormality information. The abnormality information may include information on the nature and the extent of the accident, which information is detected by abnormality detecting means (sensor) provided in the vehicle, for example, to thereby provide information useful in subsequently dealing with the accident.
When dealing with a failure in the present invention, information capable of providing notification of the fact that the failure has occurred suffices as abnormality information. The abnormality information may include information on the nature and the part of the failure, which information is detected by abnormality detecting means (sensor) provided on the vehicle, for example, to thereby provide information useful in subsequent repair.
According to the present invention, there is provided a vehicular reporting system including a terminal apparatus included in a vehicle and a control apparatus for receiving a report transmitted by radio from the terminal apparatus. The terminal apparatus has a function of transmitting the report by radio, the report being obtained by associating identifying information for uniquely identifying the vehicle. The identifying information is stored in a memory means. Attribute information for indicating attributes of the vehicle itself is stored in the memory means together with position information for indicating a current position of the vehicle.
Therefore, by receiving the report, the control apparatus can identify the vehicle, identify the attributes of the vehicle, and identify the location of the vehicle. It is thus possible to take necessary action promptly.
According to the present invention described above, the memory means provided in the terminal apparatus for storing the attribute information can output the attribute information stored therein in response to access from outside and also update the attribute information with update attribute information inputted from outside. Therefore, it is possible to optimize the attribute information that is useful in identifying the vehicle, and output an attribute information history such as stored photographic images of the vehicle for use as an album.
According to the present invention described above, the memory means provided in the terminal apparatus for storing the attribute information can be updated with update attribute information inputted at the time of vehicle inspection work. Therefore, only a designated vehicle dealer or the like that carries out the inspection work can update the attribute information by using a designated apparatus or tool, a predetermined access right information or method for access to the memory means or the like. Thus, it is possible to maintain consistency between the vehicle and its attribute information.
According to the present invention, there is provided a vehicular reporting system including a terminal apparatus included in a vehicle and a control apparatus for receiving an abnormality report transmitted by radio from the terminal apparatus. The terminal apparatus has a function of transmitting the abnormality report by radio. The abnormality report is obtained by associating abnormality information from abnormality detecting means included on the vehicle and identifying information for uniquely identifying the vehicle. The identifying information is stored in a memory means. Attribute information for indicating attributes of the vehicle itself is stored in the memory means, and position information for indicating a current position of the vehicle.
Therefore, by receiving the abnormality report, the control apparatus can detect the occurrence of an abnormality in the vehicle, identify the vehicle having the abnormality, identify the attributes of the vehicle having the abnormality, and identify the location where the abnormality has occurred. It is thus possible to take appropriate action promptly such as sending an appropriate report to the police and sending an appropriate request to an appropriate maintenance service.
In addition, according to the present invention, there is provided a vehicular reporting system including a terminal apparatus included in a vehicle, a control apparatus for receiving an abnormality report transmitted by radio from the terminal apparatus and a plurality of base station apparatus for providing a radio communication service to the terminal apparatus. The terminal apparatus has a function of transmitting the abnormality report by radio. The abnormality report is obtained by associating with each other abnormality information from abnormality detecting means included in the vehicle and identifying information for uniquely identifying the vehicle. The identifying information is stored in a memory means. Attribute information for indicating attributes of the vehicle itself is stored in the memory means. The control apparatus has a function of obtaining position information of the transmitter of the abnormality report, the position information being obtained by determining which of the base station apparatus has a service area where the transmitter is located on the basis of the identifying information included in the received abnormality report.
Therefore, by receiving the abnormality report, the control apparatus can detect the occurrence of an abnormality of the vehicle, identify the vehicle having the abnormality, identify the attributes of the vehicle having the abnormality, and identify the location where the abnormality has occurred by using the positioning service of a PHS housing the terminal apparatus, for example. It is thus possible to take appropriate action promptly.
Moreover, according to the present invention, there is provided a vehicular reporting system including a terminal apparatus included in a vehicle and a control apparatus for receiving an abnormality report transmitted by radio from the terminal apparatus. The terminal apparatus has a function of transmitting the abnormality report by radio. The abnormality report is obtained by associating with each other abnormality information from an abnormality detecting means included in the vehicle. Identifying information is provided for uniquely identifying the vehicle. The identifying information is stored in memory means together with position information for indicating a current position of the vehicle. The control apparatus has a function of obtaining attribute information of the transmitter of the abnormality report from a database storing the attribute information of the vehicle itself on the basis of the identifying information included in the received abnormality report.
Therefore, by receiving the abnormality report, the control apparatus can detect the occurrence of an abnormality of the vehicle, identify the vehicle having the abnormality, identify the location where the abnormality has occurred, and identify the attributes of the vehicle having the abnormality by searching the database. It is thus possible to take appropriate action promptly.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a vehicular reporting system including a terminal apparatus included in a vehicle a control apparatus for receiving an abnormality report transmitted by radio from the terminal apparatus and a plurality of base station apparatus for providing radio communication service to the terminal apparatus. The terminal apparatus has a function of transmitting the abnormality report by radio. The abnormality report is obtained by associating with each other abnormality information from an abnormality detecting means included in the vehicle and identifying information for uniquely identifying the vehicle. The identifying information is stored in a memory means. The control apparatus has a function of obtaining position information of the transmitter of the abnormality report. The position information is obtained by determining which of the base station apparatus has a service area where the transmitter is located on the basis of the identifying information included in the received abnormality report, and has a function of obtaining attribute information of the transmitter of the abnormality report from a database storing the attribute information of the vehicle itself on the basis of the identifying information included in the received abnormality report.
Therefore, by receiving the abnormality report, the control apparatus can detect the occurrence of an abnormality of the vehicle, identify the vehicle having the abnormality, identify the attributes of the vehicle having the abnormality by searching the database, and identify the location where the abnormality has occurred by using the positioning service of a PHS housing the terminal apparatus, for example. It is thus possible to take appropriate action promptly.
A telephone number of the terminal apparatus is uniquely assigned in a radio communication system, a body (chassis) number of a vehicle inspection certificate, a registration number of the vehicle inspection certificate (number on a license plate), an ID uniquely assigned in the reporting system and the like may be used as the identifying information for uniquely identifying the vehicle. One of such pieces of identifying information or a combination of two or more of such pieces of identifying information may be used.
As the position information, position information obtained by a GPS may be used for the terminal apparatus, and position information obtained by a positioning service of a PHS or the like may be used for the control apparatus, for example.
As the attribute information representing characteristics of the vehicle, the name of the producer, the name of the type of vehicle, the vehicle model, the body color, the model year of the vehicle, the appearance of the vehicle determined by optional parts and the like may be used. One of such pieces of attribute information or a combination of two or more of such pieces of attribute information may be used.
In addition, according to the present invention, there is provided a terminal apparatus of each of the foregoing systems. By including the terminal apparatus in a vehicle and thereby forming a reporting system as described above, it is possible to take action promptly in response to a report from the vehicle, and it is possible for a control apparatus to take appropriate action promptly in response to an abnormality of the vehicle.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a method of processing a vehicle report, the method being realized by using a radio communication system and computer information processing. The method comprising the steps of receiving a report from a vehicle, or receiving an abnormality report transmitted by radio in response to an abnormality detected by abnormality detecting means of the vehicle and converting the received report into perceptible information for providing information concerning the nature of the abnormality occurring in the vehicle, identifying the vehicle, providing information concerning the attributes of the vehicle itself, and providing information concerning the current position of the vehicle. The method thus allows an operator operating the control apparatus and personnel requested by the control apparatus to be dispatched to readily grasp information necessary to deal with the occurred abnormality.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.